Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
District outlines rollout of Syntegix crisis-alert badges for all employees
Summary
Shawnee Mission officials briefed the committee on a districtwide rollout of Syntegix single-button crisis-alert badges and associated building hardware; staff said every employee will receive a badge before the end of the school year and described response tiers for classroom and campus incidents.
Deputy Superintendent David Stubblefield and facilities staff provided a detailed update on the district’s contract with Syntegix to deploy a single-button crisis-alert badge platform to every employee.
Stubblefield explained the way the system is designed to tier responses: a three-button press triggers a local building response (nearby responders and building teams), while an eight-button press activates a campus-wide alert that notifies district officials and local authorities. "If you press it 3 times, that's a local, building response. ... If you press it 8 times, in a row, that kind of, alerts people at the district office, our chief of police, and then also local authorities," Stubblefield said.
The system also integrates with building intercoms and visual strobes; Stubblefield said the Syntegix hardware installations (beacons and strobes) have begun and are being placed inside buildings and on campuses, including playgrounds and athletic fields. He said the vendor will provide train-the-trainer sessions so building responder teams can train their staff, and that the district expects to have a badge in every employee’s hand before the end of the school year to enable system testing.
Committee members sought practical details. staff said the platform is not designed to replace existing radios or walkie-talkies but to provide an additional, automated alert layer tied into existing PA systems. A staff member noted there will be some false activations early on and that data from repeated three-button alerts can help identify classrooms or locations needing additional supports.
Staff said the district is installing badges for all employees (roughly 4,200 employees as stated in the meeting) and continuing hardware installs with weekly vendor coordination calls. The district also discussed lanyard durability and staff plans to provide reliable badge attachments as replacements appear in practice.
